Bone broth is a food that has been used for centuries and enjoyed for its vibrant flavour and bountiful nutrients. There is an art to making bone broth, though, and it is one that is not widely known, as people tend to use stocks bought from stores instead of making the broth on their own.

Bone broth is not the same as soup stock, though. Stock is typically made using bones and large quantities of meat that have been simmered for a few hours, opening up the flavour.

Bone broth, on the other hand, is made by roasting bones and letting them simmer for as long as 24 hours. This makes the bones incredibly fragile and releases their nutrients and their minerals for you to enjoy.

What You’ll Need:

• Two kilograms of fresh beef bones- there should only be a little bit of meat left on them as well as some marrow
• Three celery sticks, chopped
• Two large carrots, chopped
• A head of garlic, chopped
• A brown onion, sliced into quarters
• Three bay leaves, dried
• Two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (used to pull out the nutrients)
• A tablespoon of black peppercorn

Note: Don’t add any salt when you first simmer the stock, as the water will reduce as it cooks, leaving you with a broth that’s overly salty. You can always add salt at the end of the process.

Directions:

• Start by roasting the bones. You can preheat your oven to 180 ° Celsius. Set the bones onto a roasting tray and allow them to roast for about 35 minutes. This brings out the flavour and colour of the broth.
• Then, put all the ingredients in a large saucepan.
• Add in 12 cups of water, filtered and cold.
• Bring your broth to a boil, then turn it down to a low heat. Cover the broth with a lid that is slightly open and allow to simmer for anywhere from 10-24 hours. The longer this simmers, the better it will taste.
• You will need to check in with the broth from time to time to make sure that the cover is still on and there is enough water there. You may need to fill up the water every so often. You can skim off the extra foam as the broth is cooking.
• Let the broth cool for a while after cooking, and strain the broth to get rid of the bones and vegetable scraps.
• You should place the broth in the refrigerator for several hours. After it cools off, fat will rise to the surface, and it will look white. You probably want to remove that before you store the broth away.
• You can use beef, fish, chicken or lamb bones for your broth. You can even combine them. If you plan to use fish or chicken bones, then don’t roast the bones initially. You also only want to slow cook those kinds of bones for about 5-10 hours.
• If you like, you can use a large slow cooker instead of a large saucepan. Just add in the bones and ingredients together and slow cook on a low heat setting for at least 12 hours. How to Store the Broth
• You can store the bone broth in your fridge for as long as five days. It can stay frozen for as long as six months. You should divide the broth up into 1 litre containers for use in recipes. You can also freeze them in ice cube trays and then put the cube into freezer bags for easy use later and easy storage now.

Using the Bone Broth

There are a few ways you can use the bone broth. You can drink it straight as a substitute for morning coffee, and you may want to add some shallots to give it some extra flavour.

• You can also use it as a substitute for beef stock or other stocks for stews.
• You can also make it into a meal by adding some veggie sand noodles.

The broth can be used in couscous, by replacing the water with your broth.